Bath Rugby's Cook to make 100th appearance against Toulon

Bath Rugby’s Chris Cook will make his 100th appearance for the Club in the European Rugby Champions Cup tie against Toulon on Saturday at Stade Mayol, kick-off 16:15 (local time).

Cook will mark a century of games in the Blue, Black and White at scrum-half, with Rhys Priestland returning to the starting line-up to complete the half-back pairing.

Anthony Watson continues at fullback, with Aled Brew and Matt Banahan occupying the wing positions. Jonathan Joseph and Ben Tapuai form the midfield partnership, as Bath look to continue their unbeaten start to the competition.

There’s one change in the front row, as Max Lahiff comes in at tighthead prop and will feature alongside Tom Dunn and Beno Obano.

Elliott Stooke and Luke Charteris start in the second row, with Matt Garvey captaining the side from blindside flanker. Taulupe Faletau returns from international duty to take his place at number eight, with Paul Grant switching to openside flanker.

Henry Thomas completes his return from injury and is named amongst the replacements for the trip to face the three-time European Champions.

Director of Rugby, Todd Blackadder, said: “We’ve prepared really well as a team this week and it’s now about channelling that focus into the game. Toulon have great pedigree in the competition, so we need to make sure we’re out of the blocks quickly and impose our game plan from the start.

“One player who is not available is Roko (Semesa Rokoduguni), who will be going in for surgery on a shoulder injury sustained against Exeter. It’s obviously a big loss, but we have the likes of Matt Banahan and Aled Brew among others, who can really cause the Toulon defence problems on Saturday.”

Bath Rugby team to face Toulon

15. Anthony Watson

14. Aled Brew

13. Jonathan Joseph

12. Ben Tapuai

11. Matt Banahan

10. Rhys Priestland

9. Chris Cook

1. Beno Obano

2. Tom Dunn

3. Max Lahiff

4. Elliott Stooke

5. Luke Charteris

6. Matt Garvey (c)

7. Paul Grant

8. Taulupe Faletau

Replacements

16. Michael van Vuuren

17. Nick Auterac

18. Henry Thomas

19. Charlie Ewels

20. Zach Mercer

21. Kahn Fotuali’i

22. Freddie Burns

23. Jack Wilson

Tickets are still available for the return fixture, as Toulon head to the Recreation Ground to take on Bath Rugby next Saturday, kick-off 17:30. To purchase tickets click here or ring the Ticket Office on 0844 448 1865.